Panel recommends discipline for Essex judge's alleged tirade

A state Supreme Court disciplinary committee has filed a formal complaint against an Essex County judge accused of unleashing a string of profanities at an attorney he was throwing out of his courtroom.

The Advisory Committee on Judicial Misconduct charged that Superior Court Judge F. Michael Giles launched a tirade against Sebastian Bio when the attorney pressed him on a legal matter in 2006.

"I said get the (expletive) out of my courtroom," Giles is accused of saying. "What the (expletive) don't you understand? Shut the (expletive) up and get the (expletive) out of here. I have a meeting this afternoon."

Giles spoke from the bench but did so after making sure court was not officially in session and on the record, according to the complaint filed by Candace Moody, the committee's disciplinary counsel.

Neither Giles nor Bio could be reached for comment today.

Disciplinary complaints against judges are relatively rare. Only 30 judges have been disciplined since the committee was formed in 1974, three in Essex County, said Winnie Comfort, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts. She said there may have been some formal complaints that did not result in discipline.

The committee files complaints after establishing probable cause for the imposition of public discipline. Under court rules, Giles has 20 days to answer the committee's charges, after which the committee may convene a formal hearing on whether to recommend discipline to the Supreme Court.

Discipline can take the form of public reprimand, censure, suspension, or removal from the bench.